ARC Welder is a new Chrome extension that’s designed to be a developer tool, but it comes with a nice bonus: You can use it to install and run dozens upon dozens of Android apps within your browser. Running Android apps in Chrome isn’t exactly a new concept, as Duolingo, Evernote, Vine, and more were previously installable specifically on Chrome OS via the Chrome Web Store. But now Google’s App Runtime for Chrome can run most Android apps to some capacity via ARC Welder anywhere a Chrome browser can be installed (including Chrome OS), and developers can also use the extension to test their apps.

It’s actually pretty easy to get running, and we’ve put together this quick guide to walk you through the process of using your favorite Android apps on the desktop:

Ready to try the Pixelbook?

Install the ARC Welder extension

The first thing that you need to do is probably the easiest. Head over to the Chrome Web Store and download ARC Welder. It comes in at 11.83MB and runs just like any other Chrome app, and you can open it via the Chrome App Launcher after it’s done installing. After you open it up, you should see a screen asking you for a .apk file. You should see a Material-y designed “Plus” sign button labeled as “Add your APK”.

Download an app

Next, you need to find an app that you’d like to run in your Chrome browser. You can obtain a .apk app file a variety of ways, but the most common would probably be through a third-party APK file host such as APKMirror.com or a service like apk-dl.com. Once you have your .apk app file downloaded to your computer, click the button shown above, navigate to the file on your computer, and click “Open.” For this guide, we’re going to try out Instagram.

Once you’ve done this, you should see this screen, labeled “Test your App”:

Configure how you want the app to run

The next step is to configure how you’d like your app to run. As you can see above, you can choose between “Portrait” and “Landscape” modes, and you can choose whether you’d like the app to run as if it were running in “Tablet” mode or “Phone” mode (and there’s another option to maximize the window, as well). Finally, you can either grant or deny clipboard access. This is pretty self-explanatory, but it’s definitely useful if you’re a developer testing your app and you need to make sure it looks great no matter how it runs.

Launch the app

Developers: If you’re a developer, it’s worth noting that this is also where you’ll have the opportunity to download a ZIP file of your app. You can upload your ZIP file to the Chrome Web Store, and Google has laid out some comprehensive guidelines for those that wish to do so. If you’re not a developer, carry on.

The last step in this process is actually launching the app. Once you’ve configured your settings to your liking, click the “Launch App” button. You should now see the app open in a new window and that window should actually use the app icon as its own icon (in the dock if you’re on a Mac, or the Taskbar in Windows).

Amazingly, I found that almost every function of the Instagram app worked perfectly. The app pulls from my computer’s internet connection, I can scroll through the app using two fingers on the trackpad, I can type in any fields I need to, and I can click anywhere that needs to be tapped. Furthermore, the Instagram app even let me pull from my computer’s filesystem to upload photos and could use my computer’s camera for taking photos. I was genuinely impressed all around.

Pick your favorite app and give it a shot.

Fair warning: While Instagram seems to be functional all around, a lot of apps are completely broken. If you think that you can just load up ARC Welder and run any Android app in existence, you’re going to be sorely disappointed.

For one thing, Google Play Services is completely missing—so most Google apps are going to be rendered useless. This is only because ARC Welder is in beta, though, so we should expect to see support come at sometime in the future. Also, some apps just don’t work. The perfect example is Netflix, which simply didn’t load at all.

it’s not working, and when you see the console it shows certain errors where the app stops… it’s probably meant for the developer

http://www.facebook.com/527989568 Matthew W J Newnham

lots of errors on this today…. I stopped my 11.8mb download at 83.2mb… not sure what is wrong.

http://foodacioushouston.wordpress.com theladygold

Only seems to run on the Chrome OS – not the chrome browser. I can download the app but when the window for “adding” an app comes up it is blank.

http://www.facebook.com/100008970135879 Joshua Bobb

SKYPE WORKS!!!

http://www.facebook.com/100005082315513 Deedubs McDrinkybuddy

Which APK version of Skype works? I’ve tried about 4

http://www.facebook.com/100005082315513 Deedubs McDrinkybuddy

Never mind, I found 4.9 (Dec 2014) and earlier works. Yay

http://twitter.com/JashkiratV Jashkirat Singh (@JashkiratV)

Instagram isn working pls help brother

http://twitter.com/Droid4apk Droid4apk (@Droid4apk)

Only seems to run on the Chrome OS – not the chrome browser

http://www.facebook.com/100000588139033 Запрен Костадинов

Can I only use one app at a time? Anytime I try to add the next app, it asks me to uninstall the previous one. :(

http://twitter.com/JacobRoggero Jacob Roggero (@JacobRoggero)

Very cool, super easy to use and way better than any emulator. However, the fact that you have to mount one app at a time and uninstall the apps afterward, coupled with the inability to utilize your computers touch screen really renders this just a tinkering thing and not a way to actually use Android apps on a computer. For testing purposes I think it’s pretty amazing, and it does actually work very well, just not in a way (yet) that would allow people to use those apps like they were if there were native.

http://www.facebook.com/100000588139033 Запрен Костадинов

A comment on another website explained something:

“You can actually add the apps as extensions by the following method:
In ARC Welder after loading the APK select download ZIP.
Unzipp to specific folder (this will need to be kept)
In extensions, enable developer mode.
Select load unpacked extension.
Browse to the folder of APK you just downloaded and unzipped.
Done”